The Other Side
by Jbug
Summary: Edward has kept his promise, Bella has lived out her normal human life. After Alice has a vision Edward is prompted to make one final visit to say goodbye to Bella...again. What surprise awaits him? Can Alice stop him? A longish one shot, Please Review
1. Chapter 1

**_This story takes place after Edward left in New Moon,So basically Edward left, never came back and Bella lived a normal human life._**

**_Many thanks to my Beta Uptonmama and her wacky Mac._**

**_All recognizable characters and settings remain the property of Stephanie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended._**

**_Please Review....I'll Reply, Jbug_**

_Voices, a thousand, thousand voices_

_Whispering, the time has passed for choices_

_Golden days are passing over_

_I can't seem to see you baby_

_Although my eyes are open wide_

_But I know I'll see you once more_

_When I see you, I'll see you on the other side_

_Yes I'll see you on the other side._

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**_CHAPTER ONE_**

The annoying tittering of voices invaded my head as soon as I entered the doors of The Bay View Assisted Living Residence

_" Mmmm would you look at him, those jeans that copper brown hair, my god those eyes. Wow! He looks really sad though, I bet I could cheer him up."_

These must have been the thoughts of the tall blonde I decided glancing at the gaggle of women blocking my entrance.

_"My goodness boys that good looking should be illegal, this one's going to break someone's heart"_ this voice definitely belonged to the older, matronly looking woman

"_Oh this must be the grandson"_ A caring little voice flowed in "_funny I don't remember her ever mentioning any family before, I've only ever heard her call_ _out her husband's name in her sleep, and he must have died years ago because she hasn't had a visitor in the entire time I've worked_ _here, I bet his girlfriend is_ _really beautiful, she'd have to be something to get a guy like that_"

"_I wonder ho he's coming to visit_?" A last annoying voice asked

"_I hope it's one of my patients. Oh I better fix my hair just in case"_

She was still fumbling for her purse as I walked past the nurse's station. The tall blonde one however was being quite persistent, trying to catch my eye as I hurried past and giving me a slightly coy smile, while the other nurses just stared openly.

As I passed the nurses I concentrated on walking at a normal human speed and not sprinting down the hallway to her room as my body was begging me to do. I couldn't afford to be careless now and bring any more attention to myself.

Keeping my gaze fixed on the polished mint green tiles on the floor I wondered if I was too late. Maybe she had already gone? Their insistent chatter faded away as I neared the doorway to her room and I began to shake.

Ms Isabella Swan.

Just the sight of her name was enough that I almost dropped to my knees, and I had to grab the door jamb for support. It was written on the door in large bright lettering; confirmation, at last I had found her.

If my heart had been able to beat it surely would have stopped or at least missed a few strokes but sadly my heart had not beat in one hundred and sixty five years.

Beyond this door lay the love of my life, the light in my moonless night, the only reason I allowed myself to continue each day.

Bella swan the bane of my existence: Bella who I had sacrificed everything to protect. Bella whom I hadn't laid eyes upon in seventy five excruciating years.

Bella My love, who was dying.

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	2. Chapter 2

**_With thanks to my Beta Uptonmama & her 'wacky Mac'_**

_Never thought I'd feel alone like this_

_Strange to be alone_

_But we'll be together_

_Carved in stone, carved in stone_

_When I see you, I'll see you on the other side_

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**CHAPTER TWO****  
**

She wasn't alone when I entered her room, a portly, middle aged doctor was standing in front of her bed, looking up at Bella and then back to his chart where he made some notes.

It seemed inhuman to me that he wasn't doing anything for her, why wasn't he even trying to save her? Why weren't there teams of Doctors rushing around?

I finally allowed myself to hear his thoughts: Hmmm_ ninety three, she's had a long life, we should all be so lucky, it won't be long now, she's fading, her pulse is weakening, blood pressure dropping, and she hasn't been alert in days"_

Suddenly an image filled my head and I saw her as the Doctor had last seen Bella before she had taken to her bed.

_She was sitting on a wooden bench in a garden, a pale blue cardigan covering her bony frame as the sun had lit up her weathered face._

_The doctor was walking from his car up to the main building and had been so moved by the sight of Bella's smiling face in the sun that he had stopped to watch her. Her eyes had sparkled and although she was grinning somehow she had still managed to convey a deep sadness as if recalling some meaningful event from her long life. He had observed her for several minutes, moved by this sudden glimpse of her youth and underlying sorrow; briefly he considered her life's story and questioned why she never had any visitors._

_It seemed unfair" _he thought_ "to live this long and to then have to die alone."_

His ever present pager had vibrated then, distracting him and he had quickly moved on.

As I entered Bella's room the doctor seemed slightly startled by my silent approach, and had looked me up and down, taking me in before coming to his own decision about who I was to her.

"Hello son "I'm Dr Forester and you must be Bella's…… grandson?"

I couldn't answer him I could only stare.

Her lovely crumpled face filling my heart with so much hurt and longing it felt like I might actually split into pieces.

I was filled with so many questions about her life at that moment; who had she become? What had she done in her seventy five years, and how had she come to be alone in Boston at the end? There were simply no answers. I could only stare at her beautiful face, breathing in her achingly familiar scent again, my throat burning with recognition.

"Well you should know" He continued compassionately "she hasn't been awake in some time but I'm sure she would like the company, please, sit down"

He moved slowly away from the bed, staring at my agonized face as he gestured towards a chair as if he were giving her to me by moving away.

"I'll be back later to check on her" he hesitated "I'm glad you've come"

I could hear the confusion in his mind building "_why was this young man looking at his grandmother so intently and with such longing and pain that he can't even speak. This isn't normal."_

"I'm Edward" I finally managed to choke out trying to get a grip, and hoping the good doctor would leave soon because I simply couldn't hold on much longer.

He looked thoughtful for a second then asked" Are you named after your grandfather?"

"No, no I'm not" I answered what did he mean?

"Oh I'm sorry I just assumed, you see she mentions an Edward quite frequently; I just assumed he was your namesake…her late husband he replied apologetically

Again I was unable to answer his query. Had Bella married someone named Edward? Or was it possible that as her mind had slowly shut down, her memories becoming more and more confused, that she had been remembering… me?

"Well have a nice visit, and I'm very sorry son" he whispered kindly, finally making his exit

Sorry…. he was sorry!

There was no hope then, My Bella was going to die.

It was very useful at that moment that a chair had been placed beside the bed because my legs finally gave out with the realization of her coming death. But honestly what did I expect? She couldn't live forever. Dr Forester was right she'd had a long life.

I reached towards the bed and picked up her transparent hand in my own, it was weightless, and no longer the hand I remembered. Her hand wasn't smooth and strong anymore but frail and pallid, the bright purple veins standing out alongside the surrounding liver spots

He had missed her far more than he had ever admitted to his family, but now, seeing her again he understood that he had missed her more than even he had even been aware of.

"I kept my promise Bella I didn't bother you again, and this my love was even harder than my leaving you, but at least you were safe and I prey that you were happy"

I uttered lovingly, wishing she could hear me.

Gently I placed her pale hand into my own, and leaning in, softly kissed the crescent scar. A souvenir of her ordeal with James, an everlasting reminder of how dangerous it was to be around a monster like me.

Time had been gentle to Bella; I appreciated as I gazed at her aged face. Her hair was still long although now the exact color of the crisp white hospital sheets, the two merging together as one.

She looked so small on the hospital mattress, so helpless and fragile.

It was infuriating just sitting here and not being able to do ….anything. Just watching her go, waiting for her to pass on, it wasn't right. I had spent almost half of my life trying to protect her and there was absolutely nothing that I could do morally, to stop this.

Perhaps Alice had been right in trying to persuade me from coming here. She could see no good coming from a last visit, only pain. She felt I had been punished enough.

I had been unwavering in my decision and even volatile when she refused to tell me where Bella was. So finally against her better judgement, Alice had told me of her vision.

Alice had started seeing Bella six months previously. At first only brief flashes, and nothing out of the ordinary. Bella walking on the beach, Bella sitting on a large porch overlooking a great open bay, one day she had seen her smiling in the sunshine, surrounded by flowers; I could also see her as Alice described her visions to me. The only concern I had was that Bella was alone, there was never anyone visiting, there were no family beside her, no middle aged children, no grandchildren.

"I'm afraid" Alice hesitated "well Bella's time is coming to an end soon Edward; she's really old you know! And well….. Her health is starting to fail now. All I can see is her lying in a bed, she's always asleep, but that doesn't mean…"

She had been trying to hide this vision from me for weeks, possibly even longer.

Now I knew why. Yes Bella was dying, but the real reason for the hesitation, the fear in telling me was because it was entirely possible that Alice knew of my decision to follow her soon after.

For months now Alice had been physically avoiding me. When we were together she had kept her mind very, very occupied, practicing foreign languages, and reciting the Koran. When she started the table of elements in Latin a feeling of dread had spread over me and I became instantly alerted to the fact that whatever she had seen was so terrible that she definitely did not want me to see it.

She had known that to tell me would mean another possible future from the one that she now saw

One that included my own demise.

With my new knowledge this future must have become a possible reality, because Alice's face had suddenly twisted in pain and she had collapsed with her head in her hands

"No Edward, don't do this" she pleaded.

In allowing her pain to flow Alice had lost her control over her mind and shown me the blue sign by the sea.

I could see the red brick building, with its views of Dorchester bay, the gazebo and well maintained gardens, I saw Carson beach and Castle Island and finally the bright blue sign with its painted sailboat announcing: The Bay view Assisted living center

I left immediately for Massachusetts.

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	3. Chapter 3

_Leaving, I hate to see you cry_

_Grieving, I hate to say goodbye_

_Dust and ash forever._

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**CHAPTER THREE (STILL LIFE)**

As I allowed myself to gaze around Bella's small room I noticed how very few belongings she had; One wall of the unit was entirely taken up by an overflowing bookcase, another was covered by an exotic carpet, there was a small television in the corner, a C.D player and a large, very interesting carving of a wolf.

Definitely not enough belongings however, to encompass an entire lifetime.

The bookcase however held my attention; besides the vast accumulation of literature the top two shelves housed a variety of framed photographs, pictures of Bella's life.

No two frames were alike; it was an eclectic collage of her ninety three years.

Most of the photos were very old now and contained some familiar faces; Charlie holding a huge trout with the biggest grin on his face, her mother Rene and Phil on a golf course somewhere with palm trees, I recognized Jacob at once although he was older than I remembered and much bigger. He was on a beach sitting on a giant piece of driftwood and laughing I could only assume at the photographer.

Surrounding him were a multitude of black haired children in varying sizes, his honoured father Billy was seated nearby.

There were many pictures of Bella at different ages with people I didn't know and it was interesting imagining her life from these still shots.

It seemed she had done a lot of travelling. I could see her in front of the Eiffel tower, climbing Ayers Rock in Australia and riding a camel with the pyramids in the background. In her later years it looked like she had been content with merely going on cruises, Oh how I wished I could have seen the world with her.

I was unable to pick out a discernable husband from any of the pictures. There wasn't even a man with her in any of them more than once; it would appear that Bella had never married.

One of the frames brought me to my feet, releasing Bella's warm hand I moved in for a closer inspection. It was in a silver heart shaped frame and centered in the middle of the bookshelf, though slightly removed from the others.

This, then must be the husband? I thought. And for a split second as I gazed at the young man in the faded photograph my brain couldn't make the connection.

My own topaz eyes staring back at me.

At some point she must have found the stash I had placed under the floorboard in her bedroom. How long then had she known?

I had always thought that I had erased myself from her life completely, A clean break was what I'd told her among my many other blasphemous lies. I'd left her to have a normal happy human life, assuming that she would forget about me with time.

My god! She had always known I came to understand suddenly, that was why she had never married; she had been waiting for me.

Oh my silly Bella

From the moment she had found those pictures she would have known why I left. She would have seen them as a sign that our love had been real and she would also have realized that I had left her to protect her, that I had made the ultimate sacrifice for her, and for our love, yet could she possibly have known how much I had hated myself everyday since then?

And now with our wasted lives behind us, I would never be able to explain.

All I could do was watch her sleep and wait for the end to come.

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	4. Chapter 4

__

_**With thanks to my beta uptonmama and the Verizon man!**_

Though I know we must be parted

_As sure as stars are in the sky_

_I'm gonna see you when it comes to glory_

_When I see you, I'll see you on the other side_

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**CHAPTER FOUR**

How many hours had I watched her sleep?

When we were together I had watched her every night, revelling in every small move she made, contented by each sigh and delighting when she spoke.

I spent countless hours just listening to the beating of her heart, never tiring of the sound as I balanced her breaths with my own.

As I gazed now at Bella's face I was awed by the passage of time and its effects. Although her face was deeply lined I still found her achingly beautiful. I wondered if my own face would have fared so well given another seventy five years.

Something I unfortunately would never come to know.

Unexpectedly Bella stirred, moaning and gently arching from her unchanging slumber.

" Oh, oh it's beautiful, like diamonds"

Her eyes remained closed as she spoke and I realized she was talking in her sleep.

Leaning closer I whispered her name.

" Bella, Bella I'm here, everything's going to be fine"

" I'm not afraid" she continued

" No I don't want you to leave"

The corners of her mouth crinkled subtly upwards as she shifted.

" Will you turn into a bat?"

She was murmuring and twisting as she spoke, a jumble of words from a dream I would never be able to see, what I wouldn't give for one look into her hidden mind.

"I'm an idiot"

"Don't move"

"Tell me"

" No never, never before this"

She was silent for a moment and then without warning she opened her still youthful chocolate eyes.

"I'm so dizzy"

And then she saw me, her pupils enlarging as her eyes slowly focused on my face, a gentle smile spreading across her pale, dry lips.

"Oh Edward"

"Yes my love" I took her hands in my own "I'm here"

" I"ve been waiting for you, Edward"

"I'm here Bella; you don't have to wait any longer"

" I knew you would come" she closed her eyes again.

I was going to have to let her go again I realized.

I could hear her heart struggling within her frail chest. I had to release her!

I had given her this human life to live, I had wanted this for her and I deserved the coming pain.

At least her soul was still intact, I reminded myself. I had at least been able to give her that much, just maybe I deceivingly told myself, there would be some form of relief.

If Carlise had been correct and I still had a soul, then we could finally be together....somewhere.

I was indeed, a most selfish creature.

" I love you Bella" I whispered, bracing myself

" You can let go now my love I will join you soon"

I leaned over in haling her fragrance one final time, committing it to memory as I gently kissed her forehead.

"You can stop fighting now Bella"

" Edward...I ...Never...Stopped...Loving...You" the words were barely audible as her heart began to falter in earnest.

I could only stare as her heart gave one last struggling beat and silenced forever. She was gone.

Ah the pain.....

There was no longer a reason for anything

I was deserving but so unaware, for how could I ever have known that this depth of pain was even possible

She was gone.....gone

I could feel it completely, I was empty, there was nothing inside me anymore.

It was cold and dark; a starless night forever.......there were simply no words.

And I could not live in a world where she did not exist.

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	5. Chapter 5

_**Thanks to everyone for reading and suffering along with me in this sad story.**_

_**SPecial thanks to; Kolored, Twilightobsession, Huddletwin02, Pricel for all your reviews.**_

_**And of course my Beta Uptonmama.**_

_**I am now going to devote myself to Edwards new story, lots to tell so watch for "In search of Sunrise" coming soon to Fan Fiction near you. **_

_**J bug.**_

_I was down, but now I'm flying_

_Straight across the great divide_

_I know your crying, but I'll stop you crying_

_God knows I'll see you, I'll see you on the other side_

_I wanna see you, See you on the other side_

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**CHAPTER FIVE**

She was waiting for me, as I had always hoped and prayed she would be.

It had been too much to ask for and even at the very end I had been uncertain,

Until this very moment I had been uncertain.

Bella

As the bright green glow slowly faded and my eyes focused and adjusted to the filtered light I saw her. My god she was beautiful, her long brown hair glistened in the sun as she smiled and stretched her hands out towards me, beckoning me to join her.

Pools of light passed through the arms of the tall trees upon the circular field making everything look clean and new.

She was standing in the center of our meadow, her long white dress swaying gently in the warm summer breeze, moving as one with the tall grass that surrounded her, while wildflowers bloomed about her in shades of violet and cream.

It was glorious! And I couldn't stop staring at her, she was beautiful and young again, she was my Bella.

Carlisle had been correct and somehow I had been forgiven all my sins.

Bella continued to smile at me, her young smooth face full of adoration as she gestured towards me again, encouraging me to join her, calling me to her.

The words were like the wind and even though she was far away from me it felt as though she were whispering them in my ear.

"I've been waiting for you Edward"

Looking deep into Bella's chocolate eyes I hesitantly started moving towards her, never taking my own eyes off of her face as if by doing so we might break the connection and she would somehow disappear. It felt as though I were walking down the aisle to meet my bride, her long white dress now looking marital in its design, as tiny red and yellow butterflies quivered about her.

My body felt strangely both slow and heavy and I was having great trouble in getting my feet to cooperate with my brain.

I felt ….clumsy.

This idea brought a slight grin to my lips as I tried to stride foreword on wobbly legs.

At the same time I noticed that the sun felt oddly hot on my skin and as I looked down at my bare arm I realized it no longer glistened. Holding it sharply up to the blue sky I stared at my hand, where a thousand points of light should have been there was now nothing except the warm glow of the sun on my pink skin.

It hit me like a hammer; I was no longer a monster.

With this realization I fell into Bella's waiting arms, my new legs no longer able to support me as we finally came together.

"Oh Edward don't cry I always knew you had a soul" It was then that I felt the hot tears running down my now soft cheeks.

"Bella, my love" I whispered into her hair as she caressed my back

"Oh Bella"

We pulled apart then, and interlaced our fingers, staring at the magic of each other as if for the first time.

"Forever" she asked.

"Forever" I answered, smiling as she wiped the tears from my face.

And then I kissed her, her soft warm lips welcoming me home as we came together as one for eternity.

The End.

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_**I hope everyone liked the ending. It's happy... well kinda happy. Thanks for reading, Please review... I'll reply. J bug**_


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